153: Chapter 143 Gathering of Fellow Disciples (Please Subscribe) 153: Chapter 143 Gathering of Fellow Disciples (Please Subscribe) Lai Jianlin felt the time was right and spoke into the Voice Transmission Conch:
“Greetings, fellow disciples, we can set off now.”
“Disciple Lai Jianlin, let’s meet at the entrance of the Enforcement Hall,” came the voice of a senior disciple.
“Right, let’s meet at the entrance.”
“Okay.”
When Lai Jianlin arrived at the entrance of the Enforcement Hall, the disciples he had invited were already standing there, and a few more had joined them, perhaps those who hadn’t been inside the Enforcement Hall before, likely on daytime duty—of course, it was their break time at this meal location.
There were, naturally, disciples assigned specifically to guard the prisoners.
Besides patrolling, the disciples of the Enforcement Hall also had to interrogate prisoners and take turns enforcing the law.
“Fellow disciples, let’s go,” Lai Jianlin said to them with a bow.
“Haha, we’re just in time for a meal, waiting eagerly.”
“I just returned from a mission and just so happened to hear a senior disciple mention going for a meal, so we came along too.
Disciple brother, you don’t mind, do you?” one of the self-invited diners said with a slight hint of embarrassment.
In the Immortal Sect, although everyone receives a bounty for completing missions and a monthly allowance.
Some are not from major families and have ordinary family members at home, many of whom save their gold coins to help support their families.
“No worries, it’s my honor that the senior disciples could come.
To invite everyone at once is a good opportunity for us to get to know one another.
Being new here, I hope for the senior disciples’ care in the future.”
“Haha, fellow disciple, you are too polite!
We’re all part of the same sect, and you’re the direct disciple of the Enforcement Great Elder—we are the ones hoping for your care,” they chuckled.
“Right, we’re all brothers here; no need for all this courtesy!”
Using their footwork, Lai Jianlin and the disciples covered the distance to the restaurant outside Ximen Street in a couple of breaths.
“Haha, disciple brother, you’ve finally arrived,” Mo Wen awaited them there, calling out when he saw them, noticing that more than twenty people followed Lai Jianlin.
Disciple Lai Jianlin is really generous!
Such a large group will certainly cost a great deal of gold coins.
While Mo Wen quietly marveled, he also felt that as the son of a major family, Lai Jianlin must be quite wealthy to afford such generosity.
Unlike them, ordinary disciples who seek to save gold coins for their families’ living expenses.
“Mo Wen, senior disciple, let’s go in together!”
“Okay.”
Lai Jianlin, the host, led the way, their attire clearly marked as belonging to the Immortal Sect.
The waiter, seeing so many guests entering, asked them:
“Dear guests, are you here for a meal or to stay at the inn?”
“We’re here for a meal, one of my companions has reserved a spot.”
“Oh, gentlemen, please follow me.
That guest has booked a private room with two tables inside.”
“Hmm.”
The waiter led them to a private room, which was nicer than the outside to ensure other guests wouldn’t be disruptive.
As brothers, they could enjoy their food and drink to their hearts’ content without any disturbance.
Lai Jianlin surveyed the private room, noting that the walls were adorned with various calligraphies and paintings, likely the works of common folk artists.
Lai Jianlin invited the disciples to sit down since there were so many of them; they needed to be seated at two tables.
Lai Jianlin felt that the food he’d had the attendants order earlier might not be enough with the addition of Mo Wen, who could probably consume half of it on his own.
The waiter served them tea, while the kitchen staff began bringing in the dishes.
“Bring us the finest wine.”
“Right away,” the waiter answered and walked out.
When he moved more of the wine that had been ordered inside.
“Martial brothers, order whatever you want, we only ordered a bit before, and waited to order more until you all arrived.”
Lai Jianlin politely said to his martial brothers.
The martial brothers did not hold back, it wasn’t often someone treated them, and seeing how generous Lai Jianlin was, it did not seem feigned.
Some people naturally exude the air of a noble since childhood, perhaps trained by their family from a young age.
Everyone ordered the dishes they liked, heartily making their choices.
“Martial brothers, let’s have something to snack on first and enjoy the fine wine.”
“Good idea, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet, let’s get to know each other.”
Mo Wen suggested to his brethren from the Enforcement Hall.
So everyone reported their names, acquainting formally, and they toasted with gusto, drinking wine and feasting on meat.
Lai Jianlin’s attendant returned, and he signaled the disciple to also sit down and join them for the meal.
“Young master, there’s no need, I’ll pour wine for the princesses, and later I will just pack some food to take home and eat.”
The attendant humbly declined, knowing his place even though the young master was so polite and kind to him.
“Alright, instruct the kitchen to pack a meal for you, and pour wine for the martial brothers!”
“Yes.”
The other martial brothers also had servant disciples serving them, but since someone else was hosting today, they hadn’t brought their attendants along.
They didn’t mind, as trivial tasks like eating, drinking, and pouring wine could easily be done by themselves.
This group of young people, all in their twenties, got along easily, and drinking and chatting together could quickly turn them into friends.
The conversation turned to some affairs of the Immortal Sect, and the biggest news of the day was that the short statured person, so vicious, had actually committed suicide.
They were all relieved to have caught him, praising Lai Jianlin for his sharp observational skills and strength.
Lai Jianlin modestly smiled and said, “You weren’t involved, so you don’t know how dangerous it was.
If I hadn’t been strong, his weapon could have dissolved me.”
“What kind of weapon was it to be so venomous and domineering?” asked another martial brother who hadn’t been at the scene to witness the event.
“It wasn’t his weapon that was domineering; it was soaked with a solution that could turn both people and objects into puddles of liquid upon contact,” Lai Jianlin explained to his martial brothers.
“With such extreme and vicious methods, why would he commit suicide?
Is there some kind of conspiracy?” another martial brother questioned.
“We don’t know what conspiracy there might be; all we know is that he had a skull mark on his body.
Master said it’s a mark of a secret organization from a foreign country,” Lai Jianlin further explained.
“A foreign country?
Which country is that?
Why would they come to our country, causing havoc inside our Immortal Sect?” another martial brother inquired.
“I suspect that person wanted to acquire a spot to participate in the grand competition of all the Immortal Sects and took a desperate risk.
He just had the misfortune to run into me,” Lai Jianlin said.
As he spoke, Lai Jianlin’s previously relaxed expression grew serious.
His concern wasn’t solely for the people in the Cultivation World, but also for his own family, in case someone like that infiltrator had entered it.
Thinking this way, Lai Jianlin decided he had to inform his father via the Voice Transmission Conch after finishing the meal.
He also needed to alert the staff in the nearby shop to be more vigilant.
“Haha, we should celebrate today.
Martial brother Lai Jianlin eliminated a scourge of the Immortal Sect,” Mo Wen joined in with praise, and a sense of relief washed over him, grateful he hadn’t encountered that person himself, otherwise he wouldn’t even know how he could have died.